Just a quick post today as a tribute to an unexpected friend who helped the Quarterly make it through a tough time: 

Last week, I learned of Patrick Alexander’s passing. He was the editor-in-chief of Penn State University Press. I did not know Patrick well, but our paths crossed when he served on the ASOR Committee on Publications. 

It was during that time that we somehow got to discussing the situation at North Dakota Quarterly. I had just agreed to become editor of the venerable magazine and its fate was quite uncertain. The university had cut funding to support NDQ and had laid off its staff. More than that, we had been shuffled from one office to another, be required to clean out its back issue storage areas, and generally been made to feel unwelcome on campus. In short, I was feeling pretty bleak about NDQ’s future.

Somehow Patrick and I came to talk about NDQ at the ASOR annual meeting. For those who don’t know, ASOR is an organization that hosts an annual meeting for Near Eastern Archaeologists based, primarily, in North America. Patrick was there supporting the Penn State’s longstanding interest in Near Eastern studies and not to engage in a conversation about a struggling literary magazine. That said, he made time to talk with me about NDQ and help me understand some options available to save the journal. Among the options that he presented was sending a proposal to Penn State Press to see whether they might be willing to take on publishing the magazine.

In the end, Patrick and Penn State declined to publish NDQ, but his encouragement and willingness to take time to talk with me about my options led me to talk to other presses and eventually find a congenial home for the magazine at University of Nebraska Press.

Patrick’s generosity, kindness, and interest in my situation made an impact on me and the future of the little magazine that have come to mean so much to me. This felt like a memory worth sharing.